1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to organosilicate materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some techniques use structured phases of amphiphilic block copolymer molecules as templates for fabricating polymeric materials with mesoscopic structures. The block copolymer molecules self-assemble into stable structures with mesoscopic structures when their concentrations and temperatures are in specific ranges. Since block copolymer molecules have phases with different types of mesoscopic structure, these template-based techniques have been used to fabricate polymeric materials with a variety of types of mesoscopic structures.
Typical template-based methods involve several fabrication steps. The methods include making a starting solution that contains both block copolymer molecules and monomers for making the desired material. In the starting solution is a uniform solution of the two types of molecules. The methods include evaporating solvent from the starting solution until the concentration of block copolymer molecules achieves a concentration for which the stable phase for block copolymer molecules has a nontrivial mesoscopic structure. At this concentration, the block copolymer molecules self-assembly into the nontrivial structure. Self-assembly by the block copolymer molecules causes the monomers, which are intermixed with the block copolymer molecules, to also condense into a similar or different mesoscopic structure. The methods include heating the material with the mesoscopic structure to polymerize the monomers into a solid whose structure is fixed by the condensation.
The template-based methods have used alkoxide monomers to fabricate polymeric materials with a variety of morphologies. These morphologies include spherical, cylindrical, lamellae, and gyroid structures. But, the alkoxide precursors typically produce polymeric materials wettable by water.